Lordstown Council OKs Tax Breaks for M&M Industries
LORDSTOWN, Ohio — Pending approval from the Trumbull Career & Technical Center, the village of Lordstown moved one step closer to approving tax breaks for a Tennessee-based company that wants to move into the former Magna Seating plant.
During a special council meeting Monday evening, Lordstown Village Council voted to approve a 75%, 15-year property tax abatement for M&M Industries Inc., which looks to begin operations at the plant at 1702 Henn Parkway, Warren. Councilman Robert Bond cast the only nay vote.
M&M President and CEO Glenn Morris attended the meeting to offer brief remarks about the project, and said the company is excited about the opportunity to be part of the Lordstown community.
“We are very pleased with the culture here. We feel it is a close alignment to what we believe,” Morris said.
In a unanimous vote Monday afternoon, the board of education for the Lordstown Local School District approved the tax abatement. The abatement is not effective, however, until the Trumbull Career & Technical Center passes a companion resolution.
The Tennessee-based M&M, which makes plastic pails and other packaging, would repurpose the former Magna plant and add to it, said Mayor Arno Hill in a phone call earlier in the day. The village has been working with M&M for about a month or two, he said. “It came up real fast.”
M&M Industries is a plastic pail manufacturer founded in 1986, according to its website. The company is owned and operated by Morris, son of founder Glenn Morris Sr. M&M employs hundreds at its manufacturing plants in Chattanooga and Phoenix.
Over five years, M&M expects to employ 106 in Lordstown, according to Hill. The company would use an injection molding process to make its plastic containers, he said.
The company plans on breaking ground early next summer, said council president Ron Radtka at the meeting.
During the school board meeting, which some members attended in person and other via Zoom, it was explained that M&M is “in a position where they have to order some of their manufacturing equipment.” If the abatement wasn’t approved, the company would lose its chance to move forward on the project.
The former Magna plant produced seating systems for the Chevrolet Cruze. When GM closed its Lordstown assembly plant, Magna halted its operations here, laying off 120 workers.
Pictured at top: The former Magna plant in the village of Lordstown.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
